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Monday, September 08, 2014

Open a World of Possible --A Wonderful Gift from Scholastic

I was honored to be asked to contribute a piece to Open a World of Possible published recently by Scholastic. It is a FREE ebook that collects the stories of readers. As a reader, it is a great read--love hearing from other readers about their unique reading lives. As a teacher, it opens so many possibilities for the classroom.

Years ago, I happened upon a book of celebrities sharing the stories of their reading lives. I forget what it was called and I forget most of the specifics but I know that I used many excerpts with students as we thought about our own lives as readers. I've lost the book and haven't been able to find anything like it. So when I found out Scholastic would be creating a collection of readers' stories, I was thrilled. This book far exceeded any expectations I had for it.

Open a World of Possible has come at the perfect time--the beginning of a new school year. Building a community of readers is such an important part of our work. And I find that for that to happen, students need to begin to build their own identity as readers. I want them to know themselves as readers and to live their lives as a reader, both in and out of school. For them to become lifelong readers, they need to see themselves as unique readers.

I spend much of the first several weeks of school having conversations around our reading lives. I share my life and stories I've discovered from others. Open a World of Possible is a great resource for expanding this conversation in classrooms.

I love the quote that goes along with Scholastic's publication. It ends with these words:

Finding the right book at the right time can light an emotional spark within children that motivates them to read more, understand more, and read joyfully. When that happens, the world opens. Everything becomes possible.

I love the book and have marked several excerpts to use with students now and throughout the year. Every story will start an amazing conversation and give our students new ways to think about their lives as readers.

I am also sharing some of the student videos on the World of Possible site. The kids in the videos talk about favorite books, places they love to read, etc. Great 30 second clips to continue this conversation.

Scholastic has invitations to join the online conversation around this book and your stories about reading. You can join at:

Scholastic's
mission is built on helping children learn to read and love to read.
We believe that independent reading is a critical
part of children's learning and growth. With support from teachers, parents, and schools, children choose from Scholastic
the books they want to read, and discover the pleasure and power of reading. Finding the right book at the right time can
light an emotional spark within children that motivates them to read more, understand more, and read joyfully.
When that happens, the world opens. Everything becomes possible.
- See more at: http://www.scholastic.com/worldofpossible/#sthash.PgxldLg8.dpuf

Scholastic's
mission is built on helping children learn to read and love to read.
We believe that independent reading is a critical
part of children's learning and growth. With support from teachers, parents, and schools, children choose from Scholastic
the books they want to read, and discover the pleasure and power of reading. Finding the right book at the right time can
light an emotional spark within children that motivates them to read more, understand more, and read joyfully.
When that happens, the world opens. Everything becomes possible.
- See more at: http://www.scholastic.com/worldofpossible/#sthash.PgxldLg8.dpuf

3 comments:

To light that emotional spark, to read joyfully, to "open a world of possible." These words make my heart sing! I can't wait to read your contribution and the other stories in this book. Thanks so much for the recommendation!

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About Us

Franki and Mary Lee are both teachers, and have been for more than 20 years.

Franki is a fifth grade teacher. She is the author of Beyond Leveled Books (Stenhouse), Still Learning to Read (Stenhouse), Day-to-Day Assessment in the Reading Workshop (Scholastic) and The Joy of Planning (Choice Literacy). She is also a regular contributor to Choice Literacy.

Mary Lee is a fifth grade teacher. She is the author of Reconsidering Read-Aloud (Stenhouse) and has poems in the Poetry Friday Anthology, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Science, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (Pomelo Books), Dear Tomato: An International Crop of Food and Agriculture Poems, National Geographic Books of Nature Poems, The Best of Today's Little Ditty (2014-15 and 2016), and Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's Poems are Teachers.